To The Stars; (4 in 1) Between Planets, The Rolling Stones, Starman Jones, The Star Beast

By Robert A. Heinlein

HARDCOVER, Science Fiction This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0739442600
• ISBN13: 9780739442609
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: SFBC
• Weight: 1.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

The Best!

The book was in perfect condition and delivered to me in a very short time. I've been trying to get a copy of 'The Star Beast' for a long time. The price asked was also excellent

The Future is For the Young

To the Stars (2004) is an SF omnibus, containing Between Planets, The Rolling Stones, Starman Jones and The Star Beast. These classic novels are all within the Juvenile series, a subset of the Future History universe. They involve young men who are faced with responsibilities beyond their years. Even Castor and Pollux are required to take on some responsibilities. These tales are in internal chronological order based on the technology and political status. Between Planets takes place at the end of the stage of interplanetary colonization. The Rolling Stones occurs a few decades later. Starman Jones happens during the age of interstellar colonization. The Star Beast seems to transpire somewhat later. Between Planets (1951) is the fifth SF novel in this series. It takes place mostly on Venus, which is the home of an alien species and many disgruntled humans. There is talk of war between Earth and the colonial planets. In this novel, Don Harvey is a boy of several worlds. His father was born on Earth and his mother was a Venusian colonist. His papers declare him a citizen of the Federation. Don is attending school on a ranch in New Mexico. While out riding his pony Lazy, he gets a mobile call from the headmaster. He has received a radiogram from his mother, so he immediately returns to the ranch. The message informs him that passage has been booked for his flight to Mars, where his parents are investigating the remains of the First Empire. Don is puzzled, but the headmaster tells him that his parents are probably worried about the threat of war. They don't want him to stay in the warzone. In this story, Don calls Dr. Dudley Jefferson -- a friend of the family -- after reaching New Chicago and is invited over to the apartment. When he arrives, Dr. Jefferson makes polite talk, but asks him about a package sent to him at the ranch. Don hasn't received it, but the package is mentioned more than once during the evening. Dr. Jefferson takes him out to an expensive nightclub, which opens Don's eyes in more than one way. But he is puzzled by the presence of someone that he had seen earlier that day. A man sitting in the club looks like a security policeman who had stared at Don when he was conversing with a Venusian dragon. The security police later confront Don and Dr. Jefferson. Don knows nothing and security lets him catch his flight. Then he is told that Dr. Jefferson had died of heart failure. In a sense, everyone dies of heart failure. Don encounters the dragon -- Sir Isaac Newton -- once again on his flight up to the space station Circum-Terra. Don has a pleasant talk with the dragon and interprets for him when his voder fails. Then he discovers that Circum-Terra has been captured by Venusian forces, so he now has the choice of returning to Earth, going to Venus, or being blown to atoms. The Rolling Stones (1952) is the sixth SF novel in the series. Some time in the future, after space travel is commonplace and mos

A Great Collection

This book would be a great gift for a youngster who was starting to like science fiction or to an adult who read the books as a youngster and wanted to cherish them. I fall into the latter category and was very happy to get the collection, even though I had copies of three of the books in paperback. I have written reviews of all four of the books elsewhere but I will give a one-liner about each here. Between Planets: A coming-of-age novel set in an exciting Solar System that we know today, alas, is impossible. Still, the story says a great deal about responsibility and learning to be an adult. The Rolling Stones: A whole family comes of age in the same 1940s SF Solar System. However, the family interplay and fun works, even if the science is out of date. I was usually happy when RAH explored new ground instead of doing sequels but I would have loved to see a sequel to this one. Starman Jones: One of the most compelling stories Heinlein ever told, with some of the more complex characters. RAH really underestimated what computers could do for us but the story is good enough to ignore that factor. The Star Beast: A multi-layered story that has several of Heinlein's best supporting characters. Mr. Kiku is the prime example and his story is inspiring and heartwarming. Only the unsympathetic characters are a little shallow, in the tradition of adults in Young Adult fiction.

Perhaps the rating should be four times four stars!

"To the Stars" (2004) contains four of Robert A. Heinlein's Juveniles. Each of these stories is worth a four star rating. "Between Planets" (1951): Don Harvey, a teenager going to school in New Mexico, gets a message from his parents, on Mars. They want him to come to Mars. This turns out to be difficult. Don gets to Venus first, in the middle of a war! "The Rolling Stones" (1952): Castor and Pollux Stone are teenaged twins living on the moon. They want to buy a spaceship and head off to Mars and further. It turns out that their family; father, mother, sister, brother, and grandmother; decide to buy a spaceship and invite the twins to come along. And, things happen. "Starman Jones" (1953): Max Jones is a fatherless teenager growing up on a farm. He would like to become a spaceman. His mother re-marries and he runs away from home. He meets a rather interesting tramp, who separates Max from some of his belongings. Max continues on and gets to the nearest spaceport, where things get interesting. Max finds himself on a starship and things get even more interesting. "The Star Beast" (1954): Lummox is a creature from another star system, who was adopted, as a small pup, by John Stuart's grandfather. Now, Lummox is, roughly, the size of two large elephants, end-to-end. Lummox gets into trouble. John Stuart tries to save him. Life gets very, very, interesting and complicated. All four of these stories are SF adventures. "The Star Beast" is usually cited as Heinlein's most humorous story. All four stories are excellent. All of these stories are suitable for young teen-agers, who should avoid Heinlein's "adult" stories until they are adults. Because all of these stories were written in the 1950's the stories and the language and the attitudes will seem a little dated. Explorations of our solar system also have out-dated Heinlein's fictional solar system. These should not be large problems, as all the stories are enjoyable and do have correct, decent, "hard", science fiction in them. Heinlein was an excellent story-teller. I would suggest to today's reader that these stories were written before space travel and have some fantasy in them, much like the stories of even earlier science-fiction writers. If I were you, I would look for reviews of these stories under their own names, as each was released as a separate book. However, read the book!

The Master's Anthology Makes a Great Present!

This new publication combines four of The Master's juveniles from his early career in an anthology that would make a great any-occasion present for that budding young scientist and/or space pioneer, or for a life long fan as myself. I've read each of these at least a dozen times in my fifty-odd years, and there seems like something new to be discovered with each reading! 1. "Between Planets": the story of the son of interplanetary explorers who is trapped in transit attempting to return to his parents at the onset of the First Interplanetary War and winds up on the wrong planet and how he survives the ensuing chaos. 2."The Rolling Stones": A pair of genius kids are intercepted in their plans to launch their own spaceship to become the first space pirates, and, instead, their parents, along with their (in)famous grandmother, take the entire family on a vacation tour of the Solar System in their own ship. 3."The Star Beast": The trials and tribulations of John Thomas Stuart XXV, dealing with his elephantine pet Lummox, an inheritence passed down to him from one generation to the next, starting from his great-great grandfather, who had brought the Star Beast home from an interstellar expedition to an uncharted area of the galaxy. A great tale with a real surprise ending! 4."Starman Jones": A REAL runaway tale, where the hero doesn't run away to join the circus, he, along with a mysterious companion he meets on the road, finagles his way onto an interstellar passenger liner for a trip to the stars, even though he is a crew member, his voyage leads him into incredible adventure. Even though this collection is slightly time-worn for the older reader, its' four tales are as current for todays' readers as any books newly published, and, truthfully, still a great read for any fan of the Sci-Fi genre, no matter what age they may be!